Moneyball [review]

Art Howe, "Pena's playing first." Beane,"..i don't think so." [pause] Howe, "no, Pena's, playing first ". Beane, " Pena can't play first, he's a Detroit Tiger now". Moneyball is a fabuluous movie that all can enjoy. Based on the true story of the 2002 Oakland A's. Billy Beane the GM of the A's introduces a new "complete statitician" theory to the game of baseball. At the time, A's entire Payroll was approx $ 30,000 versus the NY Yankees gluttant $ 140,000. I have read many baseball books (Moneyball is in print too) ; this rates right up there with the classic "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton, or the "The Year the Expos Almost Won the Pennant". Brad Pitt plays a convincing Billy Beane. Sidebar :[ is the song Billy Beane's daughter sings in the movie the same as one on the Gap commercials?]. I would have to agree with my best friend, the ending of the movie could have wrapped up tighter. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Art Howe - priceless. If you are a Math Teacher, if you are a Manger, a Leader, a creative thinker, or you are a Problem Solver, go see Moneyball. This movie has so many metaphors for everyday life. The movie opens up with Beane trying to persuade the Owner to givining him more cash for the payroll. The Owner as you can imagine tells Beane straight up we're a small time club, the payroll isn't going to get bigger, your job is to find a way to put a winning formula on the field. Keep searching until you find the solution. Remember JP Ricciardi the GM for the Toronto Blue Jays? JP came from the 2002 Oakland A's organization. I wouldn't be surprise if Moneyball wins awards.